"Downtime" isn't in the LC! lexicon-- even their songs stuff in as many riffs, emotions, and words as humanly possible. The group just finished up a three-week recording session in Seattle with We Are Beautiful producer John Goodmanson. We managed to catch lead singer Gareth Campesinos! at home in England during an ever-so-brief, two-week break before the band wraps up the new LP in Wales next month.

While the as-yet-untitled new record isn't set to come out until early next year (partially due to some elaborate, fanatic-friendly packaging, according to Gareth), Los Campesinos! are currently lining up yet even more live dates for this summer.

In the interview, the charmingly self-deprecating singer talked about his band's breakneck pace, why he's embarrassed by some early LC! material, and his current "fascination with people who have killed themselves by drowning." Sounds heavy, but it's not that heavy. He gives us some details about the new LP, too:

Gareth Campesinos!: Cheers. As a music fan, one thing I really love is when a band is approachable-- when you could write to them and they would reply, or at least not be annoyed. Our fan base is made up of people we could really get along with, and the blog lets us create a sense of community, which I think is important.

In fact, today I put a post up selling a lot of old band t-shirts and have since sold about 20 t-shirts I sadly bloated out of since we started drinking free beer every night. There was an International Pop Underground shirt I was sad to see go, but I'm trying to be a grown-up and not horde everything I've ever owned. I made enough money to buy a Young Persons Railcard-- and that is why the blog is a massive success! [laughs]

Pitchfork: You guys came out with two albums last year and you're almost done with another one-- not to mention a lot of touring in between. Did you ever consider taking a break?

GC: No, I don't see any reason for it. We're very aware of the fact that being in a band these days doesn't mean you're going to be making records forever. And if we sit for a minute, that might increase the chance of it not starting back up again. For the new record, we've got a heck of a lot of tracks at the moment-- it could end up being 16 or 17 songs long. We don't want to hold back. This could be the last record we ever release. Musically, we're pushing ourselves to the extreme. Hopefully it won't be an absolute disaster.

Also, I feel like we now know what sort of band we want to be. We're certainty better musicians and songwriters than we were six months or a year ago. For me, I want to get these songs out because I'm writing lyrics in a very honest and emotive way now. If I was to write a song and sit on those lyrics for six months I'm pretty certain I would not believe in them as wholeheartedly as I did when I wrote them.

Pitchfork: How do you feel about songs from Youngster now, then?

GC: I look back at some of the lyrics on that record and feel embarrassed, like, "Yeah, that was a bit lame." I don't like "We Throw Parties You Throw Knives" and the whole "Tweexcore" thing was maybe a bit much as well. Not to sound incredibly pretentious but I know myself much better as a person and what I want to write about now.

Pitchfork: Lyrically, I feel like We Are Beautiful put forth a much more hopeless worldview than Youngster. Would you say the new record continues in that direction?

GC: Yeah, it's much more in the vein of We Are Beautiful lyrically. It's a lot easier to write morbid lyrics than it is to write happy lyrics, which might be part of it. But a lot of the stuff we released early on might be lyrically misleading as far as what I'm like as a person and my general mood-- though I am a happy person. There are several morbid themes running through the new record. Generally, the authors I like to read and the artists I listen to are a little depressed.

The last song we completed in Seattle two days ago is tentatively titled "Too Many Flesh Suppers"-- it's not a vegan thing. It's a reference to B.S. Johnson, who's a British novelist who committed suicide at the age of 40 and had a huge influence on me personally-- probably more so than any single band. The song is totally based around processed drum beats and drum samples. It's the darkest thing we've ever recorded, sonically and lyrically. The first time I heard it I was in tears-- it's a really, really intense song. It finishes with everything else drifting away, leaving this string quartet part that [violinist] Harriet wrote-- her violin work on this record is out of this world. It's the biggest departure from anything we've done before.

Pitchfork: Are there any other big differences with the new tunes compared to old ones?

GC: I'm singing a little bit more on this record. Lately I've been listening to a bunch of really strong vocalists, like Scott Walker-- not like I could ever hope to be as good as Scott Walker. But I wanted to try to do something more like that. There's one song that's quite croon-y. When I was recording one day, Harriet couldn't believe it was really me singing. I took that as a compliment.

Pitchfork: The main criticism I've read about Los Campesinos! involves the band's full-throttle, non-stop energy. But I feel like the song "Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time" off We Are Beautiful offered a respite from the band's usual hyperactivity. Is that a harbinger of things to come?

GC: Yeah, that's probably my favorite song that we've done-- that track is evident on a lot of what we've been doing. This new record really allows itself to slow down-- there are times when we're not just playing all our instruments at the same time. I think that's part of us learning about the band we want to be.

Pitchfork: Your lyrics are super dense and wordy, have you ever considered writing short stories?

GC: Short stories are a medium I've never gotten along with. When I read short stories I start to get emotionally involved and then it ends. I'm like, "Well, what happened to this guy?" That said, when writing lyrics I often start out writing prose and cut it down to make it into a song. I would love to think I have it in me to write short stories or poetry or prose but I'm pretty sure it would be horrific. So being able to hide the ideas in pop songs is a nice trick.

When we first started and people asked us what we were inspired by aside from other bands I thought it was really pretentious and high minded to talk about books. But now I find myself being influenced by authors, so I kind of hate myself a little bit for that. There are a few novelists who have really ingrained themselves into my psyche. The main one is B.S. Johnson. There's also one of his contemporaries, Ann Quinn, who also committed suicide. I think they've contributed to my recent fascination with people who have killed themselves by drowning. I have no idea where that comes from.

Pitchfork: It seems like your artistic persona is this tragic figure who's too self aware to totally give in to his own tragedy.

GC: I would agree with the tragic figure part, I do like that idea. But I think I'm a lot less self-aware than I used to be. Actually, that's not really true. I'm probably as self-aware, but I'm just happier being who I am now.

Pitchfork: What are some other lyrical themes on the new record?

GC: The other day Harriet told me the new lyrics made it seem like I was at one with nature, which made me worried. But that is a theme-- not in a "I am a tree" kind of way, though. Basically, it's a record about shagging and death. All of my favorite records are about those two things.

There was a time in my life when I shied away from a lot of the things that didn't fit in with this persona I had built up for myself, but now I realize what an idiot I was and I embrace what I actually like. Subsequently, there are quite a few soccer references on this album, which I would have banished previously. And there's a lot of relationship-gone-wrong despair. There's the drowning thing. I'm making it sound really dire. Everything is still done with humor.

And, by the time the album is released, I'll probably hate everything on it. [laughs]